The Best Way To Move Your Podcast Off SoundCloud

SoundCloud has just released their annual financial report for 2014 and it raised a panic throughout the podcast community. SoundCloud made some $15.37M in revenue, but acquired a net loss of $44.19M in 2014. These shocking numbers sparked a large discussion that the online platform is shutting down and 'doomed'.

Below is a graph demonstrating their profit loss:

Obviously, those numbers do not look pretty, but SoundCloud might be playing a longer game here that the average user is not able to see right away. On the bright side, SoundCloud did manage to increase their annual profit by nearly 54% in a single year. So they are doing something right, but it may just be a matter of time before the numbers catch up with them.

Will SoundCloud Survive?

Would SoundCloud experience another Grooveshark-esque collapse where they suddenly shut down and leave their users high and dry? Probably not, but it does raise some distrust and uncertainty that the company will be around in the next 3, 4, or even 5 years.

Some experts firmly believe SoundCloud will stick around, but it's mostly observation and speculation on facts that we simply do not have yet. We do know that their business model is rocky at best and that they're working on all the kinks to fix it, but honestly, investing time and money into a platform that doesn't seem to have a strong business model is not something I want to do.

Go With Tried and True, Go With Libsyn

So, what are your options? You actually have quite a few now that podcasting has become more popular. However, if you're looking for stability and ease of transfer from one platform to another, then you should look no further than using Libsyn.

Libsyn has been serving the podcasting community since 2004 and they are one of the earlier providers, if not the only providers, that have stuck around for so long. And guess what? They have a business model that works.

I know what SoundCloud advocates would say, 'but Libsyn isn't free!' Well, good service hardly is, but with that being said, you can get on one of Libsyn's plans for as low as $5 to $15 a month. Marc Maron uses Libsyn to host his podcast and when he had President Obama in his garage, Libsyn was able to handle the incredibly high influx of traffic without a glitch.

Yes, that's right, Libsyn was the one who hosted a show that broke podcasting records with more than 735,000 downloads in 24 hours. When you pay for a good service like Libsyn, you know they're not going to shut down or have 'kinks to fix' in the upcoming years. Plus, with their long track record and proven stability, you can see why people who use Libsyn have trouble going anywhere else.

Let's Talk Migration

We help shows move over from SoundCloud all the time and we can help users keep their subscribers. We make the whole process very painless.

— Rob Walch

When I emailed Rob Walch over at Libsyn, he responded to my email within 3 hours. That's saying a lot from a guy who is the VP of Podcaster Relations and probably has countless of emails to address on a daily basis. It's good to know that you'll be taken care of quickly even if you're not a Libsyn client yet and it's one of the many reasons why we at Podfly love working with them.

Rob pointed me to a helpful tutorial Libsyn created on how you can redirect your SoundCloud feed to your new Libsyn feed. You can find it here.

The tutorial is very well detailed and it comes with screenshots and helpful instructions on how you can begin the process. However, if you do get lost, Rob has provided his email at the bottom of the PDF in case you have any questions.

You can also use Libsyn to publish to multiple platforms like:

RSS feed (iTunes, Stitcher)

Google Play Music

Spotify

TuneIn

SoundCloud

iOS App

Android App

Windows Phone 8 App

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

Your own Libsyn blog page

HTML5 player

Wordpress, Blogger, Tumblr

This means if you're still madly in love with SoundCloud, you won't have to give it up just because you use Libsyn. If anything, Libsyn makes publishing to SoundCloud super easy in just one click. In Rob's response to my email, he said, “We do not charge a migration fee when moving from SoundCloud.” Yes, can you believe a $5 service makes it this easy?

Another benefit of switching from SoundCloud to Libsyn is that you are now able to drive more traffic to your personal website as opposed to SoundCloud's website, which makes you more marketable and appealing to sponsors. The more eyes you have on your website, the better off you are in the long run for building a fantastic audience and community.

Rob's final words were, “We help shows move over from SoundCloud all the time and we can help users keep their subscribers. We make the whole process very painless.”

Thanks Rob!

Can Podfly get me a deal?

You bet! Use the offer code: podfly when you sign up for your Libsyn account and get the first month free!

Wait, what about other hosting services?

Worry not! We have great relationships with all the major podcast hosting services. Look forward to an upcoming article on migrating from Soundcloud to Buzzsprout! If you are ready to make the move now, you can visit https://www.buzzsprout.com/promo and enter the code 3FREE to get first 3 month for free!

About Podfly:

We are a production house that caters specifically to podcasters and their shows. We help create high-quality podcasts and provide intros, outros, professional voice overs, editing services, and show note descriptions - all for an excellent monthly price. You can always contact us for more information as well.

We hope you enjoyed this piece and if you have any questions feel free to email me at Ayn@podfly.net and I'll be sure to take care of you! You can also use the contact form above to say hi and add any extra feedback.